The invention relates to a housing for a radial flow compressor and a method for manufacturing the housing. The housing may be for a turbocharger, for example.
Radial flow compressors, such as turbochargers, are installed in the region of the intake tract of a motor vehicle, in order to supply the greatest possible quantity of fresh air in the cylinder. In this way air should already be pre-compressed outside of the cylinder. On the basis of the great pressures occurring within the housing of a radial flow compressor the housing is to be constructed sufficiently sturdy.
In addition the charger housings are to be designed fluid tight in order to be able to hold the desired high pressures in the interior of the housing. With regard to the impermeability of such housings frequently single-piece manufactured turbocharger housings are used. Due to the lack of joint gaps single-piece turbochargers are less susceptible with regard to leak formation.
A single-piece turbocharger housing made of thermoplastic polymers is known from DE 101 12 764. With such housings it is a disadvantage that time-consuming die work and subsequent machining are necessary for complicated housing constructions, which causes high manufacturing costs. Under the circumstances, a time-consuming core melting procedure can be used, which in particular in the case of thermosetting plastic materials does not permit sufficiently precise dimensioning of the housing.
An air pump for motor vehicles is known from DE 44 38 750, in which a housing made of plastic with a cover is sealed and closed by means of rotary friction welding. The high temperatures that occur during rotary friction welding, which also cause a plastic deformation of wall regions of the lid touching each other and of the housing, greatly impair the permeability at the welding point and a precise dimensionability of the housing, as a result of which inevitably at least inspections of the dimensions of the housing or even a post-machining must be performed. A lid-housing arrangement also cannot eliminate the difficulties in the manufacturing of complex constructed housing interior surfaces of radial flow compressors.